


In Sickness and in Health

by jackabelle73



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 21:47:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16104470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackabelle73/pseuds/jackabelle73
Summary: For the non-smut prompt on @a-monthly-rumbelling –  hands, warmth, gentle.  Soon after leaving Storybrooke to travel the Realm Without Magic, the Golds's trip is interrupted.





	In Sickness and in Health

His head ached. His body ached. He couldn’t breathe through his nose. Attempts to breathe through his mouth led to painful coughing. It took several moments to stop, and by then his throat was on fire. He might suspect he was in Hell, if not for the fact that he’d been to Hell twice and it didn’t look like this lavishly decorated bedroom in a bed-and-breakfast just outside Boston.

If he thought back far enough, he had the dimmest of memories of feeling this way before… when he’d been mortal, before becoming the Dark One.

Apparently, his mortality had caught up with him a mere two weeks after leaving Storybrooke with his family. He wanted to show Belle the world, and instead their trip had been halted by this insidious virus.

An unexpected shiver passed over his body, as chills battled with the fever that was burning him from the inside out. The sudden movement caused his throat to spasm again, sending him into another coughing spell. He turned on his side, moaning, trying to find a position that would make the accursed coughing stop.

A gentle hand laid on his forehead, cool against his flushed skin, then moved to his cheek and the back of his neck.

“Poor thing… I know you feel awful.” Belle’s voice sounded distant through the congestion in his head.

“I’m dying,” he croaked, and coughed again.

“You have a cold, Rumple. You’re not dying.”

“Dying,” he insisted, in a raspy whisper. He managed to crack his eyes open to look at her as she leaned over him. She was still stroking his hair, and she smiled at bit at his stubborn declaration.

“We mere mortals get colds all the time, and manage to survive,” she informed him. “Here, drink some water. It’ll help your throat, and you need to stay hydrated.”

She held a glass up for him, directing the straw toward his mouth so all he had to do was hold his head up and drink. The icy water coated his raw throat, offering relief. He sat up a little more and sucked in greedy gulps, wanting more of this blessed salvation… and choked, spluttering water on himself, the blankets, and Belle, to his embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, Belle. I didn’t mean… that was rude of me,” he gasped, his voice coming out guttural through his clogged throat.

“Rumple, stop apologizing. You’re not being rude, you’re just sick.” She set down the water and used the sheet to wipe both of them before picking up a bag from the floor. “I know you’re out of practice with being sick, after 300 years as the Dark One, but we’re in the Land Without Magic now, and your powers can’t protect you here. You’re just going to have to deal with the symptoms of this cold, and probably a few more, till your immune system builds itself up again.”

“I won’t survive that long,” he rasped, despondent at the idea of going through this several more times.

“You’ll survive, because I say you will,” she informed him, as he sank back into the soft bed.

“I don’t get a say?” he asked, amused in spite of the all-over aches.

“Nope,” she said cheerfully. She’d been taking items from the bag as they talked, and now poured bright red liquid into a little plastic cup. “The pharmacist said that this would help with the congestion, the cough, the body aches,  _and_ help you sleep, so bottoms up.”

He propped himself on one elbow and took the medicine from her doubtfully. He’d never tried medicines from this world; there had never been a need. He tried taking a sniff of the liquid, but couldn’t smell anything. Belle was watching him, waiting for him to ingest this concoction. Resigned, he tipped the cup and tried to swallow it without tasting.

It didn’t work. Even his dulled senses cringed at the cloying taste of the medicine.

“That is vile,” he gasped, shoving the cup back at her.

She quirked a brow at him. “They say doctors make the worst patients; whoever  _they_  are, they’ve obviously never tried nursing a Dark One through illness. Here, sit up straighter and try a little more water, but slower this time.” She held the straw up to his mouth again.

He sipped carefully this time, grateful when he managed to drink without further showering himself or his wife. She turned to set the glass down, shoving aside Gideon’s toy truck to get it on the bedside table.

“Belle… where’s Gideon?” he asked, realizing their toddler was nowhere to be seen. It was indicative of how bad he felt, that it took him so long to realize his boy was missing.

“Mrs. Potts offered to have her granddaughter watch him for a while, when we returned from the pharmacy. He was crying because he saw the playground across the street and wanted to play, and I was trying to calm him down and get upstairs to check on you, when she said that her granddaughter would be happy to take him to the park for a while. I warned her that you’re sick and Gideon is probably carrying the germs as well, but she just laughed. Said that being exposed to all the guests here has made both of them immune to everything.”

“Lucky them,” he croaked, falling back in the bed. “How old is this girl? You trust her?”

Under normal circumstances, he would have insisted on meeting the sitter himself before letting her leave his sight with Gideon. He trusted Belle’s judgement, but the loss of his first son and the near-loss of the second had made him a protective parent… perhaps too much so.

“Her name is Charlie, and she’s a college student, visiting for fall break. She’s been babysitting since she was twelve, has taken infant and child CPR, and Gideon took to her instantly. We can see the playground from our window, and I peeked out there before you woke. She’s pushing him in the bucket swing and he has a huge grin on his face. He’s fine, Rumple.”

He mumbled something that was meant to indicate agreement, already sinking into his pillow.

“Don’t fall asleep,” Belle said. “You’re getting up as soon as I have the shower ready.”

He vaguely wondered what she was talking about, but dismissed it, because he had no intention of getting up for anything, ever again. He’d managed to fall into a light doze when his blankets were pulled from him with little finesse.

“Hey!” he protested, or tried to. He couldn’t manage that one syllable without coughing again.

“Get up, Rumple. You’re getting a hot shower to help clear your head.”

His normally loving and patient wife had been replaced by a drill sergeant. Resigned, he sat up on the edge of the bed, knowing that all protests would be in vain. A woman who faced down immortal Darkness every day would hardly allow herself to be defeated by a common cold. Belle French Gold had identified her enemy, and put together a battle strategy. A hot shower was the next weapon she planned to deploy. Therefore, a hot shower would inevitably happen.

He got an unwelcome head rush when he stood up, and swayed, almost sitting back down before Belle wrapped an arm around his waist.

“Are you all right?” she asked, looking up at him from his side.

“A bit light-headed,” he admitted. The nausea was already passing, but he didn’t refuse Belle’s offer of help.

They shuffled into the bathroom, where the shower was already running, steam was rising, and warmth was filling the room. At least he no longer had a limp to deal with as well; he felt a grudging gratitude toward the pirate for healing his ankle for good.

They paused just inside for Belle to close the door quickly, before more steam could escape. He continued to use her for balance till they got to the sink and he could grasp the counter’s edge.

“Let’s get your clothes off,” she said, already unbuttoning his pajama top with business-like efficiency.

He stood and let her do what she wanted, only moving his limbs at her direction. His cloudy mind mused that being undressed by Belle was normally a much more pleasurable experience, but in his current state of misery, his body didn’t react at all, not even when she bent down to help get the pants off his legs, and stood back up, trailing her fingers up his body. She quirked a brow at him, and he knew she’d noted his lack of reaction.

She pulled back the shower curtain, urging him in. He held her hand as he stepped over the side of the tub, and grasped the safety bar installed inside. He still didn’t feel entirely steady.

“I set the water as hot as I thought you could stand it; if you think you can make it hotter without boiling your skin off, do it. The hotter the steam, the better. There’s eucalyptus body wash on the shelf. If you use that, it should help even more, to clear your head.”

He nodded, only halfway paying attention. He was more focused on the blissful heat that enveloped him as he stood in the constant stream of water that was, indeed, close to scalding… but it felt heavenly to him.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, and the curtain swished closed.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed before she returned, but the moist heat was doing its job… or perhaps it was that disgusting non-magic potion he drank. Or both. He really didn’t care. All he cared about was that his head was clearing, the body aches were retreating, and he could draw a deep breath without coughing.

Once he could breathe through his nose again, he realized there was a fresh, clean smell mixed with the steam. Looking around, he saw a small disk on the shower floor and tried to pick it up, mindful of his recent dizziness. Fortunately, he was able to bend down without further loss of equilibrium. He picked it up, but it crumbled in his hand. He raised it to his face to sniff… yes, this was the source of the smell.

“It has eucalyptus and menthol in it,” Belle said through a gap in the curtain. “It’s supposed to release vapors as it melts in the shower, that will help clear your sinuses. Just like the body wash, which you apparently haven’t used yet.”

He shook his head, letting the stream of water wash the powdery remnants off his hands.

“No, I was too busy enjoying the steam.”

“So… it’s helping?” she asked. Was that a self-satisfied smirk she was trying to subdue, not entirely successfully? Well, she’d earned a tiny bit of gloating.

“Yes, very much. Thank you.” He was gratified to speak five whole words without even an urge to cough. His throat was still a little sore, but he could talk past it without too much difficulty.

“Go ahead and wash; the ingredients really should help.”

She turned away, but stopped at his hand encircling her wrist.

“Will you help me? I’m still feeling rather weak. I think it would better if I held on to something while  _you_  do the washing,” he cajoled.

“Rumple… you’re in there to clear your head and ease the body aches, nothing else,” she said firmly.

“Well, I happen to think that your loving hands would do more to relieve my aches than any amount of disgusting medicine.” He tugged gently on her, as if trying to pull her into the shower, clothes and all. He opened his mouth to give her a line about her touch being magic… a cheesy line, of course, but he was still too dull-witted from illness to think of anything better. He never managed to say it because his voice caught in his throat and he started coughing again. Damn.

He stumbled back, not wanting to cough on her even though Belle had pointed out that she’d already been exposed to the contagion, long before they realized he was sick. He groped for the safety bar, using it to ground himself as he coughed with his entire body, and felt something loosen in his throat. He spat out a wad of phlegm and opened his eyes to see the glob of yellowish substance circle the drain and disappear from sight. He stayed where he was, head down and trying to catch his breath. A soft hand landed between his shoulder blades and rubbed gently.

“You should feel better after getting that out,” Belle said. “Maybe you can breathe more easily now.”

He turned to face her where she stood naked in the shower behind him. She’d decided to join him after all, though not thanks to his pitiful attempts at flirting.

“You don’t have to be in here,” he croaked. He attempted to clear his throat. “I’m disgusting right now.”

“Stop it. You’re sick, Rumple. It happens to all of us.” She drew him down for a hug, their wet bodies sliding against each other, before she stepped back. “Now, let’s get you washed and back into bed. I need to pick up Gideon soon. It’s almost his naptime.”

Once again, he stood unmoving and let her do as she wished, enjoying the feel of her hands on him through the mental fog and exhaustion. She didn’t linger, just washed him from head to toe and then turned him this way and that with light touches, till she was satisfied that she’d gotten all the lather off his body, before reaching behind him to turn the water off.

She offered a hand for him to lean on as he got out, and helped him dry off and get dressed in warm flannel pajamas that she’d had waiting, snagging her bathrobe off the back of the door for herself. She urged him back into the bedroom and settled him into the bed, turning back the blankets to his waist when he would have pulled them up to his chin.

“Just a moment. Let me do one more thing, and then you can burrow under the covers as deep as you want.”

He let his hands fall back, not questioning what she wanted to do. He felt her unbutton his pajama top, and opened his eyes to look down at his chest as she spread some sort of goop on him. It smelled strong enough to penetrate even his dulled sense of smell.

“What is that?” he asked.

“Vapor rub. It’s supposed to help your symptoms. There, all done.” She buttoned him back up and pulled the blankets over him, before leaning over to kiss his temple. “I have to go get Gideon and settle him for his nap, then I’ll be here to watch over both of you while you sleep.”

“My hero,” he murmured, and he could  _feel_ her smile. “Belle?” he asked, when her weight left the bed.

“Yes?”

“After you get Gideon asleep, will you help me stay warm?”

“Of course.”

A last stroke of fingers through his hair, and he heard her moving around the room as she dressed, then the door opened and closed. He vaguely heard her re-enter with Gideon a few minutes later, heard the muted noises of diaper changing, and the whining from their son that said he was exhausted, before all was quiet again.

The mattress shifted and Belle’s arms came around him from behind, her warmth penetrating him in a way no hot shower or medicine ever could. The combined effect of all her loving ministrations finally allowed him to truly relax; he let sleep pull him under.

***

“Papa! Papa!” Gideon called from the swing. His speech wasn’t clear enough for a stranger to understand what he was saying, but Rumplestiltskin knew. He waved to his son.

“I’m watching you, sweetheart,” he said, loud enough to carry from the bench where he sat watching Charlie push him.

The young woman had been a godsend these past few days. She’d taken care of Gideon several times while he was sick, allowing Belle to focus on caring for her sick husband and giving their energetic toddler a chance to get out of their room. Belle had already paid her a generous fee for her services each day, and Rumple planned to give her a cash bonus before they left, which they would be doing soon. When she heard that they were leaving, Charlie asked if she could take Gideon to the playground for a few minutes, to say goodbye. It seemed that she’d become rather attached to him during their brief acquaintance.

While Rumple was grateful that Charlie had been available when his family needed extra help, he couldn’t help feeling that it shouldn’t have been necessary. It was  _his_  job to care for his family. In the Enchanted Forest, or in Storybrooke, he possessed the power to defend them or conjure anything they desired. Even here, in the Land without Magic, his wealth could buy them a safe and comfortable lifestyle.

However, money had its limits. All his wealth couldn’t prevent a simple cold virus from attacking his little-used human immune system. There were some things that money couldn’t buy, and he’d been all too aware of it during the days he laid in bed and Belle tended to him.

“Having fun, sweetie?” Belle’s voice came from behind him, calling to Gideon, before she draped her arms over Rumple’s shoulders from behind and leaned down to give him a kiss on the cheek. “I checked the room. I don’t think we left anything behind. Gave Mrs. Potts the room key. Car’s all packed and we’re ready to go, whenever we can pry Gideon away from his new best friend.”

“Where to next?” he asked.

This was Belle’s trip, and he’d told her from the beginning that she was in charge of the itinerary. Considering that they’d barely been on the road two weeks before the adventure was disrupted by his illness, he was eager to get back on the road to whatever destination would make Belle happy.

“To be honest, I haven’t quite decided,” she said with a carefree smile. She came around the bench to sit down close to him. “I have a couple options in mind. I figured I could flip a coin once we’re on the road.”

Rumple couldn’t help smiling, because that response was so like her, before he remembered that he meant to talk to her about something while Gideon was occupied, and he sobered.

“Belle…” He reached down to take her hand. “We can spend a few years, if you want, exploring the Land Without Magic. But I think we shouldn’t stay here much longer than that.”

“What do you mean?” she asked with concern.

“It’s just… Belle, if we stay in in this realm permanently, not only will I not have magic, but I’ll be vulnerable to the same illnesses and aging process as everyone else. In twenty years, I’ll be an old man that you have to take care of, and I don’t want that for you.”

She gave him that look, the one that said he was underestimating her again.

“Rumple… you don’t think that I minded taking care of you while you were sick, do you?” She lifted his hand to kiss the back of his fingers, then held it in both of her hers. “We may not have had traditional marriage vows, but I meant them nonetheless. Including the ‘in sickness or in health’ part.”

“I know you didn’t mind. You would do the same thing for me, over and over, while my immune system gets used to being in this realm. And you would do the same thing for me at the end of my mortal life, but Belle… I don’t want to do that to you.”

She looked like she wanted to protest, but he held a finger to her lips, with a look that pleaded with her to let him speak.

“My power, my immortality, has been such a burden on my life. But if my immortality means that I can take care of you when you’re sick, or decades from now when you get old, then it will finally be good for something. And I want that, Belle. I want to give you that. Let me take care of you, instead of saddling you with a sick old man.”

“Mama! Papa!” Gideon called again, and they both waved to let him know they were still watching him, before Belle turned back to Rumple.

“Why is this worrying you so much, Rumple? You had a cold, that’s all. And the day when we have to worry about either of us being old is far away.”

He shook his head.

“Not so far away for me, Belle, not if we stay in a realm with no magic. Of course, whenever we do go back to a realm with magic, I could make  _you_ immortal…”

She was cut him off, as he knew she would. They’d had that discussion before. “That’s not what I want, Rumple.”

“Then… if you don’t want immortality, the fact is that you will age. The day will come when you need someone to take care of you. And I want to take care of you, Belle, the way you’ve taken care of me, and I don’t mean just these last few days. You’ve been taking care of me, of my heart, since those days at the Dark Castle. I want to take care of you for the rest of your mortal life. I can’t do that if I’m a frail old man while you’re still in the prime of your life. Please, Belle… promise me that in a few years’ time, before I age too much, we’ll go back to a place with magic. A place where I can protect you and Gideon, and where I can stay strong enough to take care of both of you, whenever you need it. Please.”

Her eyes were bright with tears, and she pressed her lips together as if to keep from crying. “Okay, Rumple. After we explore this realm, we’ll go back to a land with magic.”

He exhaled, able to relax now that she’d agreed. “And we can explore all the realms of magic for as long as you want. I don’t care where you decide for us to go, as long as we’re together.”

“Yes. That’s what’s important.” She sniffled a little before scooting closer on the bench.

She leaned against him, still holding his hand, and they watched Gideon swing for a little longer. The next leg of their adventure could wait; their son was happy, and they were together.


End file.
